Improvement in plaiting-machines



Inivehtor.

Witnesses.

UNITED 'STATES PATENT Garten- GEORGEC. NELSON, OF, PETERSHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PLAITING-MACHINES.

Specification 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,4'l1, dated October 27, 1.863.

.To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE C. NELSON, al resident of Petersham, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Machine forPlaiting the Crowns of Shaker Bonnets; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in A the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section, of the said machine. Fig. et is a top view of the plaitingblock or plait-former.

It is a fact well known to those engaged in the manufacture of what are termed Shaker bonnets 7 that the plaiting of the crowns of such bonnets has hitherto been accomplished by hand, and that such is a slow and tedious operation. To lind a better and more ready means of attaining this result-viz, the plaitr ing of the crowns of such bonnets-has been the object of my invention.

The nature of my said invention consists, first, in the combination of a plaiting-former with a series of plaiting-jaws, the saine being arranged and so as to operate together substantially as hereinafter set forth 5 and my invention further consists in combining with the plaiting-former and its plaiting-jaws an elevating-frame or its equivalent.

In the said drawings, A denotes a rectangular frame or box for supporting the operative parts of the machine. I On the top of the said frame A the mold ormechanism for imparting to the crown the desired width and inclination of the line of plaits is disposed, such mechanism being a series of metallic plates, a b o, Snc.,

. corresponding in number with the number of plaits to be made in the crown. a is the upper and narrowest one of the series b and c, being of greater width and arranged, respectively, below the same, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. On the plate ay the crown-piece is placed preparatory to being operated upon, and is hel/d in position thereon by a holder or bar, G, affixed to the plates B B, hereinafter mentioned. Under each edge of the several plates a groove or channel, g or g', is formed, the same being to receive a series of plaiting-jaws or crimpers, h h t' i 7c 7c, and such jaws when in use are caused to operate consecutivelyin pairs. Each half of each pair of the crimpers is supported by two journals, l l, extending horizon;-

inner face ofthe frame C, whichis arranged over the boxy A, as shown in Figs. l and 2. Each of the crimping or plai tin g jaws has its lower part bent inward at orabout at a right anglel to its main face, as seen in the drawings, such."

lowerportion being` of a trapezoidal or such other shape as will conform to the channel formed under the lower edge of the plate, with which it is intended to operate. Furthermore, there projects at righty angles from the outer face of each crimper or plaiting-jaw a lever, m, the same having an eye, t, formed on its outer extremity, to which a link, n, is conneeted, the said link in its turn being united with the outer end of one arm of a curved spring, o. The middle part of the said spring is soldered or otherwise properly secured to a bar, D, which extends transversely across the frame C, as seen in Fig. l. The object of this two-armed spring is to retract the plaitingjaws or crimpers and. elevate them to *their highest positions after they may have `performed their proper functions. There is also jointed to the outer extremities of each pair of the levers m a connecting-rod, p, to whose lower ends any suitable mechanism may be applied, such as will cause each pair of the plaiting-jaws to be consecutively drawn or caused to fall downward, so as to evenly and A smoothly fold the crown-piece with the desired number of plaits. This mechanism may be a series of weights, one or more being attached to each pair of the arms m, and so arranged upon a platform disposed beneath them that when such platform may be depressed each set of arms m shall be so acted upon at the proper period of time as to force the sets of crimping-jaws consecutively into the grooves formed to receive them.

For the purpose of allowing the frame C to be elevated whenever it may be necessary, I form the lower portion of the legs s s s s of said frame of a less diameter than the upper part, and extend such lower portions down through mortises or holes made in the frame A. The cylindrical shoulders thus made on` the said legs serve to retain the frame C in its proper position with respect to the frame A when the machine may be in use. By sim@ ply taking hold of theirame G it may be easily raised from the frame A, as circumstances may require. l v

Having described the construction of my said invention, I will now describe its operation:

If we suppose the parts to be in the positionsV represented inthe drawings, we irst raise the frame C a sufficient distance to allow the crown-piece to be introduced iiatwise between the platea an dbar G. We next cause theframe vC to descend until the plate or bar G shall rest upon the middle part of the crown-blank and firmly hold it in its proper position while the crown is being plaited. Next, we so operate on the mechanism employed to bring the several sets of jaws consecutively into action upon the crown-piece, as to cause the rst pair of jaws h h to act upon or force portions of the freeends of the said crown-piece into the groove gor y', and'thereby form the under lap or fold. This having been done, we next cause the second set of jaws, z' t', to be brought into Operation and to act upon another portion of the crown can be readily drawn from the machine.

I claim- 1. The combination of the plaiting-former and its series of plaiting-jaws,` the whole being arranged in manner and so as to operate together substantially as described;

2. The combination ofthe elevating-frame or its equivalent with the plaiting-jaws and their former. l

Gnonee o. NELsoN. Witnesses:

` 'COLLINS ANDREWS,

FRANK. WARE. 

